Exploring the role of abiotic factors on the seedling recruitment of three plant species in the Colombian Amazon

Abstract

Our work seeks to explore certain abiotic factors that could affect seedling recruitment in neotropical moist forest. We selected three plant species (Caraipa sp., Tachigali sp., and Dicranostyles sp.) and investigated the role of nutrients, proximity to the parent tree, competition (intra-and inter-specific) and light availability on seedling growth and survival. We planted seedlings in the forest understory and in a shade house and applied four different treatments to evaluate the role of abiotic factors on recruitment. Our results show that the studied species were not negatively influenced by distance-dependent processes or by competition during the study period (6-7 mo.). We found that light availability was the most important factor determining seedlings early performance. The studied species showed distinct responses to the different treatments; therefore, it is hard to draw general conclusions about which factors might be affecting seedling recruitment and promoting the high plant diversity of tropical moist forest.